Light in Jewish Spirituality. Lecture by Gabriel Strenger

In the context of the exhibition “Menorah – Light and Candelabrum in Jewish Life“ - Gabriel Sprenger from Israel will explain the significance of light in Jewish spirituality.

In his book, Jewish Spirituality in the Torah and Jewish Holidays, Gabriel Sprenger writes :

”I understand spirituality as devotion to the deep dimension of Being. The biblical symbol for this spiritual core of things - especially of humans - is light. And God spoke: 'Let there be light' and there was light. (Genesis 1,3) This light is identical with good. And God saw the light, that it was good. The various aspects of good – such as truth, wisdom, love, justice, fortitude, patience and peace – are sometimes experienced as contradictory in this, our mortal life. But in their divine origin they are one, just as many colors become one when seen in white light. The Lord our God is one Lord. (Deuteronomy 6,4) epitomizes Jewish creed. Elohim (God ) is in the plural, denoting the multifaceted ways in which the divine manifests itself, whereas in Judaism, the tetragrammaton JHWH – regarded as ineffable and usually translated as “I am who am” - actually means “Being”. Yet Elohim is identical with Being and Being is unique.

The more knowledge science reveals, the more we realize that there is never-ending knowledge yet to be discovered. At the level of applied science (technology, medicine), huge progress is being made while at the existential level, the mystery only deepens. Theistic spirituality enables us to recognize in the cosmos and in our own personal existence coded symbols of the divine mystery, filling us with reverence and joy. Jewish spirituality and the meaning of the Torah and the Mizwot (commandments) can be summed up in the following biblical verse: Ki Ner Mizwa we-Tora Or - For the commandment is the lamp and the Torah is the light. (Proverbs 6,23). The commandment is the means and the light of the Torah is the aim.”

Gabriel Sprenger is a clinical psychologist with consulting rooms in Jerusalem, a member of the teaching staff for psychotherapy at the Hebrew University, a teacher of Judaism and a singer. In German-speaking areas he regularly lectures on the Hebrew Bible, the Kabbalah and Hasidism and is actively involved in inter-religious dialogue.

We wish to express our gratitude to the Stuttgart Education Institute ( Stuttgarter Lehrhaus), foundation for inter-religious dialogue, for its generous support of this event.

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